Before I ever started traditional shaving with a safety razor, I did a lot of research. Probably too much. That’s how I am about a lot of purchases though. I look and read, read and look. Sometimes I wish I was better at just going with my gut and saving myself the decision fatigue. When I had finally read everything and priced everything, I decided on one company for most of my starting products: Taylor of Old Bond Street.

Taylor of Old Bond Street is one of three British suppliers of men’s products collectively known as the three Ts. Those other two include Geo. F. Trumper and Truefitt & Hill. And while there are other extremely reputable British suppliers, these three are probably the best known. Taylors was first established in 1854, and is still a family business today. Yes, that’s an 8, not a typo. The folks there know exactly what they are doing when it comes to making some of the best shaving products you can buy. What really attracted me to Taylors when I first started was their combination of price and quality. The creams and soaps supplied by Taylors will stand toe-to-toe with any other company’s products, but usually for a lower cost. As I have mentioned many times before, the value for what I am paying is always a large piece of criteria I use when making any purchase.

My first ever shaving cream that was not packaged in a spray can was the Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream. Sandalwood is one of those classic fragrances that can really vary wildly from producer to producer. What I really like about Taylor’s take on Sandalwood is there is this blends of woodsy and sweetness. It’s not a sugary sweetness, but more of a green sweetness, like the scent of a freshly snapped limb from a sapling. That sweetness adds a great level of complexity to the other traditional woodsy scents like vetiver, rosemary and cedar.

Typically, I use more shaving soaps than creams because I am willing to trade a little cushion to get better glide. I have always found soaps to be a little slicker, and I think I get a closer shave when using a shaving soap. This could be entirely in my head, but that’s all that really matters, right? Taylor of Old Bond Street has carried the slickness of their soaps over to their shaving creams. I actually own both the Taylor’s Sandalwood Shaving Soap and the Sandalwood Shaving cream, and have trouble telling the difference between the two when it comes to performance. The only major difference between the two, for me, is the scent. I think the shaving cream has a stronger scent compared to the shaving soap. Overall, the performance of this cream is fantastic.

I think people like creams because the lather is already partially built. I have always found lathers easier to build with shaving creams rather than shaving soaps. However, building your lather with the Taylor's Sandalwood Shaving Cream does take a little extra work. I have found that this shaving cream takes a lot of water, more so than other creams, but the results are well worth it. Lather building is a slightly messy process anyway. Don’t be afraid to splash a little water around to give yourself a truly exquisite shave with the Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream.